LG V10 Smartphone Review Like butter baby
You’ve probably seen the new LG V10 smartphone around by now. The latest and greatest from LG is out and the new device comes dressed to impress and runs smooooooth, like butter baby.
The V10 is an awesome device and truly a pleasure to use. We had a chance to test it out over the past month and on vacation and could not have had a better companion along for the ride to take pics and video. The LG V10 is an extremely responsive and robust device with a multitude of features and excellent hardware specs.
LG V10 Technical Specifications
This feature packed device comes with a hardware fingerprint reader integrated into the power button, beautiful 5.7″ IPS Quantum Display 2560 x 1440 resolution at 515 ppi, a secondary Quantum display for recent apps/notifications measuring 2.1 inch at 1,040×160 3 onboard cameras; a 16MP rear and two 5MP front cameras, one for standard angle and one for wide angle!
The V10 runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Hexacore CPU that the LG G4 runs on with 1.8GHz and 4 cores at 1.4GHz and 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM instead of 3GB along with the Adreno 418 GPU. It doesn’t have the Octa Core CPU that has become the buzzword around mobile devices lately but lets not get caught up on the numbers, this has to do with implementation and LG’s done it right. On the LG G4 you’ll find 3GB of RAM and 537ppi vs 4GB of RAM and 512ppi on the V10 according to our hardware profiler.
Supports the latest in connectivity with Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC / USB 2.0. The V10 future proofs you for LTE-A Cat. 6 network support!
Expandable memory and Removable battery live on. The 3,000 mAh battery supports Quick Charge 2.0 for faster charge times and is easily replaceable or carry more than one with you when you’re on the go. On board Flash storage is a roomy 64GB (they don’t make a smaller capacity, Thanks to LG for not tryin to ‘Nickel & Dime’ it’s customers with storage sizes) with expandable memory to 2TB additional with the microSD card slot.
The device measures 6.28×3.13×0.34 inches or 159.6 x 79.3 x 8.6mm and weighs 6.77 ounces or 192g.
V10’s Physical Design
LG’s V10 display uses a dual-layer glass to sandwich the digitizer and help protect direct impact damage. The left and right edges of the phone since they are devoid of any buttons are equipped with 316L Stainless Steel rails that make this thing feel a bit like a tank.
At 6.77 ounces or about 0.42 lbs you’re nearing the half pound mark. That’s quite heavy for a phone but I don’t seem to mind it. Makes the device feel sturdy to me. Very different from the LG G4 which is virtually featherweight when compared to the V10.
Even after prolonged usage over two devices, I’m not a big fan of the location of the power and volume rocker buttons. Like on the LG G4 they are positioned in the rear centered just under the camera lens area. While that design choice makes using the buttons extremely convenient and ergonomic when making or receiving phone calls, for me it makes every other situation less convenient. To me this feels a bit like planting a bush in the wrong place and then building the house around it’s placement.
They’ve compensated by integrating in the fingerprint reader to the power button, and allowing the screen to wake up via double tap but try to adjust the volume while watching a movie or lower it quickly is very cumbersome. The integrated fingerprint scanner works quite well to make unlocking the phone that much quicker and easier.
While the V10 isn’t waterproof or resistant, the front top and bottom areas are made with silicone, what LG calls Dura Skin. 316L Stainless Steel rails run the length of the sides changing the traditional bezel area to be tougher, what LG calls Dura Guard. LG even claims the V10 meets and complies with the military standard impact rating MIL-STD-810G Method 516.6, Procedure IV “Transit Drop”. While that doesn’t mean the V10 is impervious to damage, what it does mean is that the V10 isn’t completely delicate and won’t fall apart after some typical drops from around 4 feet onto a flat surface.
I cannot comment on every drop or destructive situation since we are not trying to drop test the phone and ruin it but I can attest that the phone has been dropped or accidentally shoved off tables more than few times and seems to be unaffected by any of it and still feels solid. I’ve dropped the phone on it’s corner which typically dents bezels or even cracks corners but the LG V10 stands up quite well and even bounced straight up off a wood floor without any damage.
LG V10 Usage
The LG V10 is a dream to use. Though I’m sure there’s bugs, I’m hard pressed to find many during daily typical usage. The V10 feels smooth in virtually every situation and remains snappy with it’s 4GB of RAM.
LG is clearly trying to innovate and with some novel ideas I might add. The customizable capacitive hotspot bar persists on the V10 from the LG G4, while a second screen finds it’s home above the notifications bar and in line with the front firing cameras, that acts independently from the main screen to house recent apps, notifications, time/date and even your monogrammed initials and is scrollable left to right as well. I find that the 2nd screen isn’t completely necessary but convenient and useful. This features makes multi-tasking just that much quicker as you have a dedicated screen for recent apps and notifications cutting out some taps.
Because the LG V10 has two LED screens, one main and one slender at the top of the device, the main screen is physically offset to the bottom of the phone and is not equidistant to each edge (top/bottom). The screen will appear off center when viewing a images or video in landscape orientation. The second screen will know this and dim itself or put itself to sleep and that helps the situation but remains noticeable. It doesn’t bother me actually but I am conscious of it even after the capacitive hotspot bar hides away and the screen adjust to it’s full potential width in landscape view.
You’ll notice a bit of backlight bleed on the second screen which can be quite distracting, from the masked rectangle that surrounds the two front facing cameras. The backlight bleed doesn’t last very long as the sensors do their job and the display adjusts to dim and put the screen area to sleep but visually it can be a little abrubt and noticeable in situations where the ambient light sensor has not reacted quickly enough. Though once it does, the screens and backlight level off and all looks fine again.
Battery Life on the V10
As with any Phablet or Smartphone, the battery Life can be somewhat shorter depending on your usage. Everything you do can play into the battery drain, GPS, 4G but the 4k display will tend to suck the life out of your battery when watching a movie. With any feature packed device, you’re bound to run into battery issues till someone slips a Graphene battery into one of these phones!
I’m so used to tethering in and topping off my charge before going on any elongated excursions, it really doesn’t affect me much but a removable battery allows you the convenience to leave that bulky portable battery at home and slip an additional slim 3,000mAh in your pocket. Androids battery saver helps quite a bit but the V10 also supports Quick Charge 2.0 which gives you faster charge times; We’re talkin 40-50%+ charge in about 35 – 40 min or so in our experience.
Stills, Video & Audio on the LG V10
The LG V10 at 5.7 inches and 6.7 ounces won’t be everyone’s cup of tea since it is quite big and heavy, but where it shines is with taking still pictures. The V10 works well for any creative professional photographer types along with the avid enthusiast that is looking for manual camera controls on a smartphone. Quick focus with it’s laser-guided auto focus along with an array of integrated video and still editing features, the V10 becomes more of a portable studio than any other smartphone will give you at this time. That said, this is still a smartphone so you’ll always run into situations where your whites get blown out or image out of focus but the experience is the best amongst our experience with a phone.
Time exposure photography? No problem, with the V10’s manual camera controls you can adjust white balance, ISO, shutter speed an even manually focus. So bust out your tripod and your creative hat!
A F/1.8 aperture lens allows more light to enter and the result is better pictures in low light. Low lighting situations are a horror for any smaller camera but the LG V10 outperforms any of the previous cameras I’ve used on a smartphone.
Crisp images with vibrant color saturation and excellent response times is what you can expect with the V10. The video function can be slightly sluggish as there is a short but noticeable lag on the device which I suspect is due to the optical image stabilization feature that the V10 uses when taking video. You can even take multi-view video with all three cameras simultaneously! How cool is that getting multiple angles, no more flipping around the phone furiously in hectic video shooting situations, with the V10 you can record a three-pane video collage.
You can shoot video in HD, FHD or UHD in either 16.9 or 21:9 aspect ratios. There’s also a manual video mode that allows you to adjust focus, frame rate, shutter speed, white balance, and ISO on the fly while you’re recording video.
Not sure how selfies became so popular but they are and with two front firing 5MP cameras the V10 makes it easier to keep that selfie stick at home, less to carry. As a photographer, I’ve learned to pack as light as you can. The 80 degree lens works well for standard selfies while a 120 degree lens gives you a significantly wider angle for you to grab a picture of a group of people at once.
Audio recording settings
Monitor and adjust stereo sound input levels for video so you’re not recording blown out audio or increase input to raise the levels or even adjust the direction of the sound for a recording. What that means is that in addition to the 3 onboard cameras, there are also 3 onboard microphones; front, side and omni-directional which you can adjust to suite your recording.
The V10 features a 32 bit Hi-Fi DAC from ESS Technology to enhance the audio clarity as well as performing better with volume when connected to an external output device. The Hi-Fi DAC, Fine tuning audio controls and up-sampling technology help your music sound good whether your playing lossless Flac and ALAC as well as your standard MP3’s.
LG V10 Recommended
The LG V10 is a feature and hardware packed device, from it’s Snapdragon Hexa-core CPU and 4GB of ram to it’s HD 5.7 inch 4k IPS display, robust camera and manual camera controls. The V10 runs like butter; It’s quick, extremely responsive and tough. The V10 is a pleasure to use on a day to day basis and the camera performance is unmatched for a smartphone. It is ferociously snappy and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a premium smartphone with an excellent camera.
Comes in Space Black, Luxe White, Modern Beige, Ocean Blue, Opal Blue
Carriers: Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T. The triumvirate is currently throwing in an additional 3,000 mAh battery, charging cradle and 64GB microSD Card for the Holidays! Pretty sweet deal!
